Happy New Year's Ladies!

The beginning of a new year is always a good time to sit down and reflect upon past endeavors and make plans for the future. Be it short term or long term goals, now is a good time to make your plans.

Many WAHMs out there are busy (when aren't we busy) setting ideas to paper as they begin a fresh, new year. However, many resolutions that will be made will be doomed to fail, simply because of the career path we have chosen, so I resolve this year to keep my fellow WAHMs from disappointment.

Ladies! Stand with me now and recite the New Year's WAHMolutions:

1. We resolve to tackle each new day as it comes, each new task as it presents itself, each new disaster with as much grace as humanly possible (when the baby tore off his diaper, the cat lovingly placed a token of her affection on your keyboard, or your oldest son forgot to do his homework - again). We will live in the moment and not plan too far ahead, as who really knows what will happen when you have kids? And we will always remember, we are investing each and every day in the future - our children's future.

2. We resolve not to sweat the small stuff, be it small children, small animals, or small holes that have appeared in our carpets. We will let the dishes sit in the sink because at the end of the day, the kids don't care if they eat out of the dog's dish as long as we're there to watch.

3. We resolve NOT to be supermom. Need we say more?

4. We resolve to eat take-out food more often, consider Ramen noodles their own food group, serve Macaroni & Cheese at least once a day, and generally avoid any type of meal that smacks of 'gourmet' (please refer to resolution number 3). Further, we resolve to believe that if it isn't sticky, or if falls within the 10 second rule, it's still clean.

5. We resolve to ignore the extra weight gain from sitting at a desk most of the day, ignore the wrinkles, the lack of makeup, the pony tail or clip in our hair, the untweezed eyebrows, unmanicured hands, and clothes with second hand chocolate (or Macaroni & cheese) that are a huge part of us. The kids do not really care what we look like, and if our husband does, let him try being a WAHM for just 1 week. We dare him.

6. We resolve to take time as often as possible to take a bubble bath, a sauna, do our nails, put on makeup, whatever little things make us feel human. We must stop to do this now and again. It isn't selfish and the kids will understand.

7. We resolve to never lose sight of why we are doing this....why we are overworked, stressed out, and tired. We love our children fiercely and want only the best for them. Even if we are working long hours in front of the computer, we are still available to kiss a boo-boo, look at a freshly painted picture, stop an argument, make lunch, make snacks, play barbies, make a Lego castle, discuss Yu-Gi-Oh, catch a bit of Dora the Explorer on TV, explore, find, and dream with our children. And THAT is what really matters.

Debbi Cunnington is a work at home mother of 3 children and the owner of 2 successful freelance businesses, both creative at www.bearcreative.com and organizational at www.tsbooks.com.

debbi@bearcreative.com